"Sure. I can agree that all those nice things were about my eyes and my eyes only..."
Astrid heaved a sigh of relief when I said this, thinking she had found a way out of this situation. But she started to panic once again, when I said
"...But do people normally say such passionate words to random strangers, they just met earlier? Is it not something that you only say, or even think about in such a detailed manner to someone you're actually interested in?"
If I answered my own question, then it would have to be no in this situation, as the only reason she blurted out those lovely words about my appearance was because I was pressuring her to do it, with a threat on hand.
And when she did say the long-awaited reason, she decided to go all out and blurt out everything that was going through her mind like a dam that just opened, as a form of relief.
So in reality, she didn't really love me like I said she did, which I already knew was playing with her.
Although I knew she had some interest in me through 'Resonance', it wasn't to the extent of her falling for me.
Although I knew this, Astrid didn't, and it looked like she was really doubting if she actually liked me.
"I-I don't normally say that to anyone...In fact I haven't said such a thing to anyone in my life other then you...But that doesn't mean I like you...O-Or does it?"
There was clear hesitation in her words, and by the end, she was doubting if she actually liked me for some reason, even though we had just met.
I wanted to play with her a little bit more, so I said
"Let's even leave the content of your proposal aside. Let's just look at the fact that you think that I'm attractive in your eyes. Especially more than the other boys you've seen in this school.
Doesn't that suggest something?...Couldn't this mean, that it could be more than some initial attraction and something much more beautiful?
"N-No..It can't be...T-There's no way that's true..."
She was starting to doubt her thoughts even more as her eyes wandered all over the place, looking for the answer she was looking for.
"And why do you think you brought me to this empty classroom? Is it simply to ask for something, or could it be so that you could gather your courage, and express your true feelings to me."
"N-No...I really did want to talk to you about something important... That's why I brought you here, not for anything else."
"Maybe that would have been your initial goal. But who could say if you had any other agendas deep in your mind for bringing me here."
I dragged out my words, like a therapist consulting a patient, which broke her mental state down even more and made her stamp her hooves that were covered in shoes, as if she couldn't stand still in one place.
I decided to give her the final blow and said with a serious look on her face
"And finally, for what reason did you ask me if I was with Lucille or not, when I tried to go in?
Isn't that something someone would ask to the person they like, just in case they're in a relationship with someone else."
"No! I also had my reasons for that!" She said in a panic while holding the edges of her lab coat.
"Really? Do you really think so?" I looked at her doubtfully and said
"In my eyes, it looked more like you wanted to know if I was in a relationship or not before you brought me into the room to propose.
If I were in a relationship with Lucille, then you would have denied my entry into the classroom and would have told be to go back...But if I was single, then you would have allowed me to come in and say what you've been holding in this whole time."
"Am I not right Astrid?"
"Weren't those the exact thoughts running through your head, when you blocked the door?"
I asked, slightly raising my voice which made her shudder and look at me with a shocked look on her face, as if she came to startling realisation.
The reason she gave me such a shocked look with her eyes wide open and lips gaping for air, was probably because I guessed exactly what she was going to do, when she heard my reply to whether I was single or not.
But in reality, even though I guessed what she was going to do, I knew it wasn't like I said, with her asking me if I was in a relationship so she could clear her doubts and propose to me.
And it was actually so that she could talk about the craving she felt when she saw me, which I already guessed was the reason she brought me here.
Although she didn't know exactly what she needed from me to satisfy her craving, she should've instinctively understood that it wasn't something wholesome and quite twisted.
And if I was in a relationship, she would forget about talking to me about her issue, as she didn't dare to damage a relationship, which shows that she was a kind girl who couldn't hurt another person's feelings for her own personal self-interest, even if it meant that she would be the one losing out.
That was also the reason, she wanted to talk in a place where no one was around since the topic of interest, wasn't something that could be said in a public area, which I also twisted in a way to make it sound as if her actions were really because she liked me and wanted to propose to me in private.
I had enough fun tormenting this poor girl in front of me; who looked like she was going to have a mental breakdown, so I decided to stop and clear the air.
"So Astrid..."
I snapped my fingers at her to break her out of her daze, while resting my chin on my hand; which was on the armrest, and looked at her with my lips curling slightly upward, and continued to say in a low voice
"...Even after saying all this, do you still think that you don't like me, and simply wanted to bring me here for something else?"
If it had been before, Astrid would've simply denied it, saying that it was ridiculous. But after winding her along this whole time, she didn't know what to say or what to believe in.
Should she believe her own thoughts, which were all over the place at this moment? Or should she believe in my words, which seemed to have a clear logic behind them?
She was so confused that she started to grit her teeth and breathe louder than usual, as if she were going to go crazy from thinking too much.
But after what seemed to be an eternity, she seemed to have finally made a decision and said while gritting her teeth, with a hesitant expression on her face
"S-So I do like you?"
I was expecting her to say something along those lines, but what surprised me was that after saying those few words that she herself was unsure about, she looked like she finally relieved herself of some burden and accepted that she liked me.
She looked like she still didn't understand how she started to like me out of nowhere, but since all the evidence pointed towards her liking me, she decided to accept her fate and role with the punches.
After the initial stress was released after racking her head over an answer, she seemed to have realised that she practically confessed her feelings to me right now and blushed profusely, while intertwining her fingers like a little girl.
The calm and cool minotaur girl I saw in a lab coat when I first met her was completely gone, and all that was left was a shy little girl who was looking at me coyly, as if she were slowly realising the boy in front of her, was her first love.
But just as she looked like she was going to open her mouth and ask how we were going to progress our relationship, knowing that I already accepted it, as I was the one who adamantly insisted that she loved me.
I dropped a massive bomb on her head by answering the question she asked, by saying with a straight look on my face
"No. That's not true...You actually don't like me.
I was simply joking around with you, to see if I could really make you think that you loved me, and it was a success. A great success at that!"
By the end, I even had a faint sneer on my face, as if I couldn't control the joy I was feeling after tricking her.